There are three articles in this file:
1. GAY SCOUT LEADER WINS COURT RULING AGAINST DISMISSAL
-- San Diego Union Tribune, 8 july 1994
2. Judge: Scouts Discriminated
-- AP Story via Clarinet news, 29 July 1994
3. MAN TESTIFIES HE HAD SEX WITH ANTI-GAY SCOUT VOLUNTEER
-- AP Story from Frontiers newsmagazine, May 1994
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From THE SAN DIEGO UNION-TRIBUNE
Front Page Story, Friday, July 8, 1994
GAY SCOUT LEADER WINS COURT RULING AGAINST DISMISSAL
by Anne Krueger, Staff Writer
A San Diego Superior Court judge ruled yesterday that state law
prohibits Boy Scouts from discriminating against an Explorer Scout
leader who was ousted from that organization after he revealed he is
homosexual.
The ruling by Judge Anthony Joseph -- the first judge in the country to
rule in favor of a homosexual Boy Scout leader -- was hailed by gay
leaders and condemned by those who support the Boy Scouts' exclusion of
gays.
The decision came in the case of El Cajon police Officer Chuck Merino,
who sued the Boy Scouts following his ouster from the organization in
August 1992 after he announced that he is gay.
Though Joseph's ruling was eagerly awaited by both sides, it is not
expected to have any immediate impact on the organization. The Boy
Scouts vow to appeal it, and Merino's lawyer, Everett Bobbitt, estimated
it may take three years to resolve the issue if the case is decided by
the U.S. Supreme Court.
Bobbitt said he will ask San Diego City Manager Jack McGrory to remove
the Boy Scouts from their city-owned land at Balboa Park and Fiesta
Island, which the Scouts lease for $1 a year. If no action is taken,
Bobbitt said he will renew his lawsuit against the city, which was
dropped from the case, because he claims the Scouts are violating a city
ordinance prohibiting discrimination based on sexual orientation.
Merino, 38, was thankful for yesterday's ruling, saying it showed that
it was more important "to accept people for the deeds that do vs. any
labels that people put on them . . . I think my record shows I've done
nothing but outstanding work for the Boy Scouts."
Merino had run the El Cajon Police Department's Explorer group since
1988. After he was expelled from the Boy Scouts, the El Cajon and San
Diego police departments severed their ties with the group.
Though he sued for reinstatement, Joseph ruled that he could not order
Merino reinstated because the officer had not requested an
administrative hearing before Scouting officials, as the Scouts allow,
to protest his expulsion.
Michael Edwards, a lawyer for the Boy Scouts, vowed that the Boy Scouts
would not change their policies despite Joseph's ruling.
"The principles of the Boy Scouts are not for sale and they will not
change," Edwards said.
The state Supreme Court has agreed to hear two cases centering on
whether the Boy Scouts can exclude gays and atheists from their ranks.
Edwards said that he will ask that Merino's case be sent directly to the
state's high court to speed the appeal process.
Legal experts said the only other legal challenge to the Boy Scouts'
exlusion is in a New Jersey case that has not been decided. In that
case, Eagle Scout James Dale sued the Scouts after they terminated his
membership when he revealed that he is gay.
A key issue in the Merino case was whether the Boy Scouts are a business
that falls under the provisions of the state Unruh Act, which prohibits
businesses from discriminating on the basis of sexual orientation,
religion and other characteristics. A Los Angeles appeals court, in one
of the cases before the state Supreme Court, ruled in March that the Boy
Scouts are not a business and therefore could prohibit a homosexual from
becoming an assistant scoutmaster.
But Joseph ruled that the Scouts are a business, saying they are a large
public organization with a national membership that includes more than
4.1 million youths and almost 1.2 million adults. He noted that the
Scouts have an open membership policy, conduct many public activities
and engage in commercial enterprises, such as a Scout store that sells
scouting equipment.
Joseph ruled that the Boy Scouts are violating the state civil rights
act by discriminating against homosexuals, and have no constitutional
right to exclude homosexuals.
"This court's determination is the Boy Scouts may not exclude or remove
avowed homosexuals from membership in the Boy Scouts unless the conduct
of such persons is violative of Boy Scout rules which apply equally to
all Boy Scout members without regard to homosexuality," Joseph wrote.
Joseph said Merino furthered Scouting's goals while he was a leader and
never discussed his sexuality with the Explorers in his post.
"Public acknowledgment of homosexuality does not translate to a
'teaching' that homosexuality is proper or improper any more than a
Scout admitting he is a Catholic amounts to a 'teaching' that
Catholicism is the only 'proper' religion," Joseph said in his ruling.
But Darnell Watkins, director of the Boy Scouts' Desert Pacific Council
serving San Diego County, said in a written statement that the Boy
Scouts have a duty to exclude homosexuals as scout leaders.
"Scouting is based on high principles, enduring values and is a positive
force in society. It is our responsibility to make sure our youth have
scouting as a positive alternative to the growing gang problem in San
Diego and that the leaders are of the highest moral stature," he said.
Christine Kehoe, a lesbian and the City Council member whose district
includes the Scouts' Balboa Park headquarters, said she as pleased by
Joseph's ruling.
"I agree 100 percent with the judge," Kehoe said. "The Boy Scouts
should revise that policy. They're really holding the kids hostage by
that policy of intolerance."
On the other hand, Bishop George McKinney of St. Stephen's Church of God
in Christ said the ruling fits in with what he called "the moral decay
in the courts and schools and society in general."
"The ruling simply is continuing the trend whereby the moral values that
support family life and the protection of children are being abandoned,"
he said.
VOICES [Sidebar]
A judge's ruling that the Boy Scouts' ban on homosexuals is illegal
garnered both praise and condemnations.
o "Exclusion of the entire class of avowed homosexuals is a status-based
policy which results in invidious discrimination against certain
individuals based on stereotyped notions . . . Discrimination based on
status, absent any evidence of improper conduct, is arbitrary,
capricious and offensive to public policy." -- from Superior Court
Judge Anthony Joseph's ruling.
o "(The ruling) does nothing more than to verify for me that what I've
been doing all along is right, that regardless of anyone's sexual
orientation that they can be a good role model, a good leader and do
good things for the community regardless of what some other people might
say." -- Chuck Merino, the El Cajon police officer who filed the lawsuit
after he was ousted as a Boy Scout leader.
o "We believe we have the right of expressive association of volunteers
and that we are not a business, therefore (the state law) does not
apply." -- Darrell Watkins, director of the Boy Scouts' Desert Pacific
Council.
o "Finally a court is recognizing that here is a community that just
wnats to be treated like everybody else." -- J Craig Fong, director of
the western regional office of Lambda Legal Defense and Education Fund,
a gay and civil rights organization
o "These people are terrorists. These people preach tolerance and they
are the most intolerant people I've known. These people are Nazis." --
Michael Edwards, attorney for the San Diego Boy Scout chapter, referring
to harassment he said he and Boy Scout officials received from the
homosexuals.
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From Clarinet news, 29 July 1994
This was taken from a Clarinet article. For more information on Clarinet send
email to info@clarinet.com or call 1-800-USE-NETS. All Rights Reserved.
Judge: Scouts Discriminated
SAN DIEGO (AP) -- A judge awarded $5,000 to a Boy Scouts leader
who was expelled after revealing he is gay.
California's civil rights law prohibits the Scouts from
discriminating against homosexuals, Superior Court Judge Anthony
Joseph ruled Thursday.
``Public acknowledgement of homosexuality does not translate
into `teaching' that homosexuality is proper or improper,'' the
judge wrote.
He declined, however, to order the reinstatement of Chuck Merino
until the Boy Scouts held administrative hearings.
The Boy Scouts planned to appeal. The group claims it consists
of volunteers and is not a business, and therefore is exempt from
the law.
Merino, a 38-year-old police officer, was an Explorer Scouts
leader for 11 years until he was expelled in 1992.
The Boy Scouts of America have a national policy banning
homosexuals from being leaders. A spokesman said homosexuals are
inappropriate role models.
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Date: Mon, 2 May 1994 10:15:47 -0700
Taken from the most recent issue of Frontiers Newsmagazine:
MAN TESTIFIES HE HAD SEX WITH ANTI-GAY SCOUT VOLUNTEER
(AP)--A San Diego man recently alleged that he had sex with the
high-ranking Scout volunteer who testified in a civil suit that
homosexuality is "contrary to the laws of God." Both testimonies were
part of a suit against the Boy Scouts brought by openly gay El Cajon
police Officer Chuck Merino, who was ousted from leading a Boy Scouts
Explorer post in 1992 after he publicly acknowledged his
homosexuality. Christopher Leach, a member of the local Boy Scout
governing board, testified that he had been involved with the Boy Scouts
almost all his life and would resign if gays were allowed to become
members. After seeing Leach's photograph in a newspaper account of the
testimony, J. Mark Crouse came forward to testify that he first met
Leach at an adult bookstore and had sex with him on several
occasions. Crouse also said he saw Leach at a bathhouse. Another witness
said he encountered Leach at a gay adult video store where he was saw
Leach engaged in various activities with another man, including "mutual
fondling." Leach, his wife and children went to Utah after receiving
numerous harassing phone calls following his testimony.